concrete slab vs/ wood floor - pros and cons

I’ll make one last point and then I’ll shut up. I find the bantering on many A’gon threads to be distasteful. It certainly was not my intention to end up in the middle of this one. And John z my apologies for hijacking your thread. I’m sure that you have the savvy not to be ripping up concrete or modifying the structure of your home without seeking the advice of professionals.

Jaffe, Don't leave! We construction professionals can provide valuable suggestions, (including advice to seek local professionals) as well as nip the bad advice in the bud. As to the bantering (what a polite term!) I have seen a huge increase in pure pontification. Is this bantering distasteful? Sure. Curative? I certainly hope so... Z.

Yes, I am planning on calling my local contractor, who did a very nice job remodeling our kitchen two years ago (I'm reminded of him every time the HELOC payment is due. LOL!) But I wanted some input from the "Gon before calling him for a bid. The more clearly I can define my wants, the better he'll be able to plan out an accurate bid and avoid "surprises" once building begins. I may have to show him some posts here regarding isolated ground electrical and other A/V-related stuff to avoid issues with the system. During our kitchen project, I caught him running Romex right next to my surround speaker wire/coax antenna drops that I had previously fished in-wall. It was easier for him and he did not realize it could cause hum or other problems in my A/V, (or didn't care).. Luckily I caught it and he was able to re-route the romex prior to the sheetrock going up. Regarding construction and safety, I'll definately use his guidance regarding our local codes and permitting that may be required..

I wanted to point out that I never meant this thread to veer into actual contruction issues, just which material sounded better/different given a choice. Lord knows I don't want to create an unsafe situation. But this is a rare case where I could take it either way, starting from a clean slate, as it were. If it were feasible to do a suspended floor on joists to really improve sound, (IF that's the case, not saying it is..) then I think it's a reasonable consideration. I'll be spending a lot of time in there once it's done! Besides,almost every home theater project you read about in the A/V magazines have some pretty big compromises due to pre-existing structure/layout/huge windows/you-name-it issues that they have to design around. Luckily, my garage has no windows, every dimension is non-divisible (which hopefully will tame most standing waves) and the only door will be a solid-core heavy duty outside type near the back corner with total isolation from other parts of the house. I think/hope this room's gonna ROCK!

Thank you all again for some great input and guidance. I'll try to create a "virtual system" post once I get started with some pics to show the progress. Regards, -jz